Hello there! I know my question may sound very ignorant, but I need your help. I tried to find it on Internet, but it seems like the topic is pretty huge and there wasn't any straight answers. Right now I have Roland RD 500, which probably has not this option, as well as korg dx5 which sounds pretty bad.

Well... I need a 61key keyboard for live performances. The most important thing for me is to TRANSFER [by USB? Or FireWire?] my sounds (recorded, or f.e. made in fruityloops) on it being able to save it and then play with great quality. I guess it might be a MIDI controler, but is it? And I don't want to take my laptop for live performances, so it should have some kind of memory. And I don't mean to play the song live from playback, but to have every note imported, just like notes of piano or something.

Could you PLEASE give me a link for something like this? I saw how the band called Foster the people have the keyboard along with these 16 "big buttons", pads. He recorded notes of his voice and he can play it.

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but since I have one, I can tell you that the Korg Triton Extreme (I have the 61-key version) has a reasonably full-featured sequencer. I've never used this feature, but I would imagine you could import sequences. I know from reading the manual that you can use the sequencer to control other synths, not just the Korg's internal sounds._________________AudiodefSynthetronicaGentoo Studio

There are a few ways to do this, depending on the length of the samples that you want triggered from each key. An old sampler, like an Ensoniq EPS-16+ would do this, and an Akai MPC1000 would work too. You could also use an iPad and trigger it via MIDI.

I had a look at "Pumped Up Kicks" from SXSW. There's a Nord, not sure which one, and an Akai MPK49. The MPK49 is the keyboard with the sliders and pads. I don't know much about it, but it's just a controller, so he must be using it to trigger a sampler. If you're not playing keys, an MPC1000 might be easier.

In 2nd min you can see what he does. He records this instrument and then transfer it into keyboard. If I could do exactly the same, but actually writing in on the build in memory, without need of takin' laptop with me live, I would be amazingly happy.

In 2nd min you can see what he does. He records this instrument and then transfer it into keyboard. If I could do exactly the same, but actually writing in on the build in memory, without need of takin' laptop with me live, I would be amazingly happy.

At 2:07 he mentions storing the autoharp in a sampler in his laptop and playing them via a midi keyboard. If you don't want to use a laptop, I would think you could use (1) any decent sampling keyboard or (2) a separate hardware sampler plus a midi controller.

If you wanted to invest in a sampler, you could get an old E-Mu EOS Sampler for your studio and a ROMless Proteus 2000 line ROMPLer. If you can find a Flash ROM for the Sampler, you could record and burn high quality samples and just take the ROMpler on the road. (I saw an E5000 Ultra go for around $175 US a few months ago; someone I know bought an E6400 Ultra for $60 Canadian not too long ago. The Flash ROMs are hard to come by, but I have seen them pop up over the years--most recently for $200 US.)

I saw that someone built a DIY microprocessor thing (possibly an arduino or maybe a pic) that used a memory card (SD I think) to store and playback samples. That might be another way to go. If that appeals to you, I will see if I can find the link.

As you want to be able to produce sound it cannot be a midi controller.
As already mentioned sampler keyboards could do the trick but as you want to play sounds from softwares, the best would be to use a keyboard embedding a powerful PC like these:
http://www.lionstracs.com/groove/keyboards/

These are fairly cheap second hand and have a lot of features in one keyboard. You may not love the keyboard that Alesis uses on the smaller 6HD, but the larger, weighted keyboard could be worth looking at. Read the comments!_________________Muied Lumens Base Star

Thanks for posting the link. For years I have wondered about the possibilities of using a general purpose computer maximized for music performance/production. I would recommend the videos at you tube over the website you posted. The website couldn't even load the pictures in 5 minutes and didn't seem to have very much information (details about the products). Nice to see the version with the large touch screen. (See the MusikMesse 2011 Lionstracs Groove XR demo at youtube.)
Steve

I think of all propositions the best one was this with built in computer. I guess I'd be able to simply copy VST into it, then create the sound and play. The only problem is that the Lionstracs thing costs around 2500 pounds, which is SO MUCH. So I still don't know what to do. Is there any other keyboard similar to this one, but a little bit cheaper? I guess I can pay up to 1000 pounds/1400$~ if I'll be sure what I'm buyin'.

Alesis Fusion seems to be great too, but I wonder why is it so unpopular. And I guess it might be pretty hard to find.

And to you mr. Steve; my knowledge is very low in this kind of stuff, so I didn't understand all of the options you gave. I remind you that I don't need it for my studio, but mostly for live performances so all I want to do is to make sounds in FL and then import them somehow to my keyboard, so they can be played live. Exactly like Gotye in this video, but not with live laptop involved.

Ok! That's how it goes! I decided to buy macbook (or do you suggest anything else?) and a normal 61 key midi keyboard, and I'll use macbook for live performances. Could you please give me some suggestions in what should I buy? To be honest I totally don't know what macbook is about, but I heard that this is the best option for music stuff, and I want this laptop to be just for music. I'm also not sure about 61 key option, tell me if I'd buy 49 key keyboard I could use lower octaves? I heard that there is an option to change octaves, so I can have lowest and highest wherever I want, so it's basically shorter version with all seven octaves in it able to set up.

. . . all I want to do is to make sounds in FL and then import them somehow to my keyboard, so they can be played live. Exactly like Gotye in this video, but not with live laptop involved.

I will have to look at the video again. I seem to recall that he was playing the samples [sounds] on a computer using an external keyboard controller. If so, this is very different from putting the samples [or sounds] into the keyboard.

In another thread, there is a post about PPG releasing an iPad synth app. I know very little about iPads and whether or not there are good sampling apps available, but from what little I have seen, if I were getting new gear to do music, I would look into the iPad and other iDevices. I highly recommend trying to find thought on this from those more knowledgeable about them.

Also, I highly recommend reading the user manuals on line for keyboards you are exploring as well as getting the opinions of people who have experience with the ones you are looking at. I have two different brands of usb/midi keyboards (older ones) and both have octave up/down buttons. I cannot imagine a 25-, 49-, or 61-key controller without them.

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